Readers Guide: ‘Top of the Morning’ tells tales of morning TV woes

Monday

Jul 22, 2013 at 6:21 PM

For 21-year-old Devin Jones, the summer job at a North Carolina amusement park was supposed to be a means of earning money for his next year at school. But it turns out that Devin enjoys carny life and has a special flair for it — so much so that he easily becomes intrigued in an unsolved, four-year-old murder where the victim seems to be haunting the House of Horrors. “Joyland” captures all three of Stephen King's great loves: crime, mystery, and ghosts.

by Susie Stooksbury

For 21-year-old Devin Jones, the summer job at a North Carolina amusement park was supposed to be a means of earning money for his next year at school. But it turns out that Devin enjoys carny life and has a special flair for it — so much so that he easily becomes intrigued in an unsolved, four-year-old murder where the victim seems to be haunting the House of Horrors. “Joyland” captures all three of Stephen King's great loves: crime, mystery, and ghosts.

It seems that behind the cheerful facades of morning network television, specifically “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America” — there is an appallingly nasty rivalry. Brian Stelter takes us into the fray which most recently resulted in “GMA” knocking a complacent “Today” out of its long-held top ratings spot. “Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV” (070.195) is as eye-opening as your first cup of coffee.

Jeannette Walls once again writes about what she knows. The two young girls in her new novel, “The Silver Star,” dramatically portray the peripatetic life she revealed in her popular memoir “The Glass Castle.” When Charlotte Holladay abandons her two daughters, 12-year-old Bean and 15-year-old Liz, the girls are well able to fend for themselves. But when the authorities start checking on them, they decide to go to their family home in Virginia. There they find their Uncle Tinsley who takes them in, and Bear begins to enjoy a settled life in a place she finally belongs — until Charlotte shows up one again.

During her 63-year reign, England's Queen Victoria was served by a large number of men and women who took on jobs ranging from Lady of the Bedchamber to Resident Medical Attendant. For some of them, their positions offered opportunities they would not normally have had; for others, it was a dull and tedious duty. Kate Hubbard mined the diaries and letters of six of these retainers to provide a unique perspective on the Queen and her world in “Serving Victoria: Life in the Royal Household” (941.081).

With her husband, environmental activist Bill McKibben, on the road much of the time and their daughter Sophie starting college, writer Sue Halpern found herself pretty much alone every day except for her Labradoodle Pransky. She decided that they would become a therapy dog team. Once they were certified, they began to visit a local nursing home where Pransky turned out to be a natural. With candor and wit, Halpern relates their surprising experiences in “A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home: Lessons in the Good Life From an Unlikely Teacher” (636.700).

It has been 10 years since Andy Sachs walked away from her job as fashion maven Miranda Priestly's assistant at Runway Magazine. Within that time, Andy and Emily, her former rival at Runway, have become best friends and business partners, each doing what they do best to make their bridal magazine, The Plunge, the hottest thing in publishing. And now Andy's dreams are complete — she has married the handsome and charming Max Harrison. But every silver lining seems to have a cloud attached — Miranda and Runway are maneuvering to take over The Plunge — and Max may not be as perfect as Andy first thought. Lauren Weisberger tells the rest of Andy's story in “Revenge Wears Prada.”